Chip Foose Award of Design Excellence to Woody’s Hot Rodz

Woody’s Hot Rodz of Bright, Indiana, just west of Cincinnati, Ohio, was awarded the Chip Foose Award of Design Excellence at the Grand National Roadster Show this past weekend in Pomona, CA. This award goes to a builder and vehicle for originality and creative design. The winner is selected by automotive design legend Chip Foose himself and a judging supervisor. The winning of the prestegious award capped off a surreal weekend that followed the 18 month build of George Poteet’s 1957 Chevrolet two door sedan. The weekend began as KTLA’s Allie Mac Kay used the car as her backdrop on the LA morning news on Friday, January 27. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYkWr4p0ze0

Winning this award is very special to Christopher Sondles, owner of Woody’s Hot Rodz. “I have spent my entire life around ’57 Chevys and have always dreamed of being able to build a car of this calaber and design. George Poteet made my dream come true when just under two years ago he talked to me about building this car.” Eric Brockmeyer was comissioned to do several renderings of the ideas that George and Chris had for the car, and the talented staff at Woody’s Hot Rodz took the idea and turned it into an award winning reality. “I could not have done this without the dedication and persistance of Matt Baldwin and Dane Heninger. Thier attention to detail throughout this project made it a dream to build. I would also like to thank Billy Wooten, Adam Beck, Bud Kocher, Clay Cook, BES Racing Engines, Sherms Plating, Classic Instruments, Dynamat, Steele Rubber and my sponsors and friends JEGS Mail Order, Art Morrison Enterprises, Anest Iwata Spray Guns and Miller Electric Welders for making this project a wonderful experience throughout. Southern California is the birthplace of hot rods, the history and culture are amazing. Being a midwest kid, there are many dreams I have about SoCal, winning this type recognition wasn’t even a consideration……I will be back”

The ’57 will be on display at the Detroit Autorama February 24-26 in the JEGS display in the main hall and then will travel througout the summer to different events across the country. To see pictures of the build visit www.woodyshotrodz.com.